GW Men's Hoops to Host DePaul in 2014 to Begin Home-and-Home

Colonials, Blue Demons to Meet at Smith Center on Dec. 11, 2014

WASHINGTON - GW men's basketball will host DePaul at the Charles E. Smith Center on Dec. 11, 2014 to begin a home-and-home series between the two programs with a return game in Chicago during the 2015-16 season.

The Colonials and Blue Demons are both part of the eight-team field for three games in the 2014 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii from Dec. 22-25. The two teams will now also square off at the Smith Center in an unbracketed game of the event.

"As our 2014-15 schedule continues to take shape, it's clear that the next two seasons are going to be very exciting and also very challenging," said Head Coach Mike Lonergan. "Home-and-home series against teams from the ACC, Big Ten and Big East combined with the new 18-game Atlantic 10 schedule will give our fans plenty of great games to enjoy and again prepare our team for the postseason."

The December 2014 meeting will mark the fifth all-time between the programs dating back to the 1931-32 season and the first at Smith Center. The teams have split four previous meetings, with GW wins in 1931-32 (W, 35-28) and at the 1997 Maui Invitational (W, 60-46), while DePaul posted victories in the 1975 Motor City Classic in Detroit (73-57) and in the 1998 BB&T Classic (87-79).

GW's trip to Chicago in 2015-16 will mark its first game in the Windy City, currently home to more than 3,000 GW Alumni, in more than 45 years.

"We love to play in cities where we have large alumni bases who can come cheer on our student-athletes. We're hopeful for a great GW turnout when we return to Chicago," added Coach Lonergan.

DePaul went 8-6 in non-conference play and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big East Championship for just the second time with a first-round upset of Georgetown in 2013-14. Head Coach Oliver Purnell will enter his fifth season at DePaul in 2014-15 with two returning starters, including 2014 Big East Rookie of the Year Billy Garrett, who will be the Blue Demons' leading returning scorer after averaging 12.6 points as a freshman.